Posted on 08/10/2010 4:50:16 PM PDT by Smogger
Sen. Ted Stevens’ death in a small plane that crashed in a remote part of Alaska adds another sad chapter to the story of politicians who have died in airplane accidents over the past several decades.
Stevens had already survived another plane crash in the state 1978 while his wife, Ann, died.
The frequency of their travel, trips to often remote areas and the use of small, private planes make politicians much more likely victims of plane crashes. Here are others whose fatal crashes made headlines over the past few decades:
• In 1972, a plane carrying then-House Majority Leader Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr., father of broadcast commentator Cokie Roberts, crashed on its way to Juneau and was never found. Also on the flight and declared dead was Rep. Nick Begich, father of Alaska Sen. Mark Begich.
• Sen. John Heinz (R-Pa.) and six others died in 1991, when Heinz’s chartered plane collided with a helicopter inspecting its landing gear in the Philadelphia area.
• Longtime Texas Sen. John Tower died in the crash of a commuter plane in April 1991 in Georgia.
• George Speaker Mickelson, the Republican governor of South Dakota from 1987-1993, died in a 1993 plane crash near Dubuque, Iowa.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40902.html#ixzz0wFXiTG3p
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Well...do I have to be the first to say it? nahhh...we are all thinking it.
Politicians fly a lot. More exposure to the risks of aviation.
There’s lots they could add to this list for example:
Lawrence Patton McDonald (1935-1983) — also known as Larry McDonald — of Georgia. Born in Atlanta, Fulton County, Ga., April 1, 1935. Democrat. U.S. Representative from Georgia 7th District, 1975-83; died in office 1983. Member, John Birch Society. Killed when Korean Airlines jet on which he was a passenger was shot down by the Soviet military, over the Sea of Japan, September 1, 1983; his remains were never recovered.
See also: congressional biography; NNDB dossier.
Henry John Heinz III (1938-1991) — also known as H. John Heinz III — of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pa. Born in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pa., October 23, 1938. Son of Henry John Heinz II and Joan (Diehl) Heinz; married 1966 to Teresa Simoes-Ferreira (who later married John Forbes Kerry). Republican. Delegate to Republican National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980; U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania 18th District, 1971-77; U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, 1977-91; died in office 1991. Died in the crash of a small plane at Merion, Montgomery County, Pa., April 4, 1991. Interment at Homewood Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa.
See also Heinz-Forbes-Kerry-Winthrop family of Massachusetts
See also: congressional biography; votes in Congress from the Washington Post; NNDB dossier.
You can read more here: http://politicalgraveyard.com/death/aircraft.html
The 40’s were a perilous time for flying.
Do you mean that it’s not always sad?
Then there’s the senator from Minnesota, Paul Wellstone who died in 2002 on a campaign stop. The dems used his services as a political rally.
Some one probably beat me to this.
And that is especially true of Alaskan politicians.
Being well known shouldn't generate an extra sense of loss, as far as I'm concerned.
That said, what a horrible way to go and I wouldn't wish it on anybody.
“• Longtime Texas Sen. John Tower died in the crash of a commuter plane in April 1991 in Georgia.”
-
WIKI says:
Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 was a regularly scheduled commuter flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Brunswick, Georgia which suffered an “uncontrolled collision with terrain”...
Losing John Heinz was devastating. I had hopes of him someday running for President... What might have been..
What ever happened to Parachutes?
Pretty much the same story for entertainers. From Ricky Nelson to Buddy Holley.
“
• In 1972, a plane carrying then-House Majority Leader Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr.,
father of broadcast commentator Cokie Roberts, crashed on its way to
Juneau and was never found. Also on the flight and declared dead was
Rep. Nick Begich, father of Alaska Sen. Mark Begich.
“
History Channel had a good documentary on those that “go missing”
in Alaska. It was interesting to hear that the US guvmint employed the
SR-71 (Blackbird) and even psychics to try to find the crash site.
“
• Longtime Texas Sen. John Tower died in the crash of a commuter plane
in April 1991 in Georgia.
“
IIRC, a mechanic failed to properly re-install some bolts on the
plane Sen. Tower (and others) perished on.
I think it was an Embraer (sp?) plane and the Brazilian company that
made it suffered a reputational loss due to the crash.
“Losing John Heinz was devastating.”
And continues to devastate today as his widow and her 2nd, gold digging husband spend Heinz’s millions on anti-American, Leftist causes and egotistical presidential campaigns.
Missouri elected a senator that was planted before the election via plane crash.
They're taking something natural and wonderful, gravity, making seem like an ugly thing just because some lumps of meat are in a metal tube unable to generate lift under other metal tubes stuck out it's side.
If we can just find a way to get everybody in Congress and the administration to fly de Havilland Comets from the 50's maintained by Aeroflot 24/7 back and forth from Alaska to Key West, then back up to Maine and across to Hawaii.... just keep all of them flying it might make me smile.
In 1978 VA GOP Senatorial candidate Richard Obenshain, the leader of VA conservatives and former Republican National Co-Chairman , died in a small plane crash in Richmond. He was replaced by the state convention runnerup, John Warner. I was on Dick’s campaign research team, and had been at a lunch with him the previous weekend. A great tragedy.
Then there was the 1996 crash of Ron Brown in Croatia.
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